'Nash Bridges' canceled

Jesse Hamlin, Chronicle Staff Writer

Published
4:00 am PDT, Thursday, May 17, 2001

The cancellation of "Nash Bridges" by CBS after six seasons is bad news for fans of Don Johnson's San Francisco cop show -- and for the local economy. The production pumped $27.5 million into the Bay Area this past year alone, most of it in San Francisco.

Shot on the streets of San Francisco, in a huge studio on city-owned Treasure Island and on a barge at Piers 30-32 along the Embarcadero, "Nash Bridges" employed several hundred local workers. They included production crews and staff members who were paid about $8 million a year as well as union carpenters, electricians, set designers, grips and other stagehands who earned $2.5 million this season.

During the 2000-01 season, "Nash Bridges," which shot its last show on Treasure Island a few weeks ago, paid the city of San Francisco $1.14 million. That includes $542,600 in rent on Treasure Island, $412,600 in overtime to off- duty police officers, $37,000 to the Port of San Francisco and $23,000 to Friends of Recreation and Parks. Add to that meals, dry-cleaning and more than $1 million a year for hotel rooms.

The show "is going to be sorely missed by the motorcycle officers who got the overtime," said Lt. Jack Ballentine, administrator of San Francisco's Police Law Enforcement Services Unit, which arranged for the police officers who provided traffic and crowd control for "Nash Bridges."

"The show did so much on the street, they required a tremendous number of cops," said Ballentine, who estimates that the 30 or so officers who take on extra work with movie and TV crews earn about $17,000 to $18,000 a year in overtime. The lion's share of that came from "Nash Bridges."

In addition to pouring money into the economy, "Nash Bridges" was "a tremendous asset to the city because (San Francisco) was seen on TV," the film commission's Cohen said. "It's one more opportunity for the rest of the world to see this jewel of a city and then come to visit us."

The cancellation of the show is not good news for the 50 to 100 members of Local 16 of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees who found regular work on "Nash Bridges," said the union's business manager, F.X. Crowley. "We will miss this show because it's been very good for our local members and their families," said Crowley. "All these people will go back to doing commercial work and whatever else comes up."

Don Johnson, who lives in San Francisco with his wife and young daughter, is at the Cannes Film Festival and couldn't be reached for comment.

His publicist, Elliot Mintz, said that although the show was not renewed, Johnson, co-executive producer and star, didn't want to continue doing it. He said Johnson "wants to explore other options."

Yesterday, Cheech Marin, who played Johnson's sidekick, was philosophical about the show's demise. "All good things come to an end," said Marin, talking on his cell phone while playing a round at Lake Merced Golf Club.

Like everyone else, he'll look for work, but he's got a few things cooking. He's doing Robert Rodriguez's next movie and thinking about creating a sitcom based in San Francisco, where he now lives year-round.

"I'll still be around," said Marin. The good thing about losing "Nash Bridges" is that "I get to play more golf."